


lungs and lips locked

by scepticallyopenminded



Series: 30 Day Lyrics Challenge - 2017 [30]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Confrontations, First Kiss, Getting Together, Intervention, Light Angst, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, The Pack Ships It, barely there really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 05:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13206741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scepticallyopenminded/pseuds/scepticallyopenminded
Summary: Stiles continues staring at his laptop, but he’s not thinking about Twitter anymore. No, now he’s wondering if Erica might be right.It all can only lead to heartbreak, of course; there’s no way Derek’s into him. No way.





	lungs and lips locked

**Author's Note:**

> from Sing by Dresden Dolls:
> 
> "There's this thing keeping everyone's lungs and lips locked/It's called fear and it's seeing a great renaissance" 
> 
> I again managed to take this lyric that's really gorgeous and turn it into absolute fluff with a dash of angst. I'm proud.
> 
> Also Imma miss doing this challenge if I'm honest. I hope Defalt and I get to do another one of these some time because it has been a blast and I already knew a lot of the music he was into but it was really cool to see some of the lyrics and songs he picked and some of them were really challenging and made me think.
> 
> also yes this is 9 words over the limit but I COULD NOT trim it down any farther. I tried. I did.

“You’re really pathetic,” Erica says, and Stiles _does not_ scream. He does squeak and jump in his chair and spin around to see her lounging on his bed and judging him with her eyebrows and Stiles rues the day - rues it! - that Derek decided to teach his friends how to use their eyebrows so expressively.

“Need to put fucking bells on every one of you,” Stiles replies, pressing a hand to his chest where his heart is apparently trying to beat out of his chest, “One of you is going to give me a heart attack one day.”

“Not our fault that you’re so unobservant.” Erica shrugs, crossing her ankles and she didn’t even bother to take her boots off, dirt caked on the bottom crumbling onto his duvet. Stiles knows mentioning it won’t do anything, so he just rolls his eyes and spins his chair back around, going back to scrolling on Twitter like he had been before she’d unceremoniously showed up in his room.

“And your lack of observational skills aren’t what I’m here for, anyway,” she continues, “I’m here to tell you how pathetic you are and to encourage you to either get your life together and ask Derek out or stop with the heart eyes, it’s making the rest of us sick.”

Stiles stops, eyes widening, face going hot. _What_? He’s twenty years old, he’s been around ‘wolves for _four years_ and he can lie to them almost without fail these days, there is no way they’ve noticed that.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he insists, and he doesn’t have to turn around to know that Erica’s rolling her eyes now.

“Yeah, whatever,” she says, voice moving and Stiles knows she’s getting up. She leans against his desk a moment later, arms crossed.

“I’m doing this more for my own sanity than any care about your happiness,” and Stiles doesn’t have to be a werewolf to hear the lie in that, and his mouth tilts up in half a smile, even if his face is still flushed, “But I really think you need to talk to Derek. You never know. He might just feel the same way.”

Stiles snorts, looking away and back at his computer.

“I’m not going to go make a fool of myself to a man who clearly has no interest in me.”

“Uh huh,” Erica raises an eyebrow, “So you don’t think the fact that he stocks your favourite soda even though nobody else in the pack likes it means anything? Or that he switched laundry detergents when it was clear you were allergic to something in the one he’s used for years? Or maybe how you’re the only one in the pack he allows in his bed?”

“That was one time,” Stiles interjects, “And it was after a fight and I was clearly too tired to go home.”

“We’ve all been there and been told to sleep on the couch,” Erica comes back with. When Stiles doesn’t respond she just pats him on the shoulder with a sigh.

“Whatever. I can’t make you, but I still think you should. You might be surprised.”

With that she’s back out the window, and Stiles _really_ should look into getting locks on his windows.

He continues staring at his laptop, but he’s not thinking about Twitter anymore. No, now he’s wondering if Erica might be _right_.

It all can only lead to heartbreak, of course; there’s no way Derek’s into him. No _way_.

*

“Dude,” Scott says, leaning against Derek’s countertop while he and Kira bustle around the kitchen, preparing stuff for the pack dinner that night, “So what’s up with you and Stiles?”

Derek pauses where he’s mixing together a marinade, turning slowly to stare at Scott. Kira’s stopped chopping vegetables as well, looking at Derek with bright and curious eyes.

“What do you mean?”

Kira and Scott glance at each other, and Kira speaks up.

“Well, it’s pretty obvious that you’re into him. The way you look at him, the not-so-subtle touches…” She trails off, shrugging her shoulders and getting back to the veggies.

“You’re pining!” Scott continues for her, “And you really don’t need to be, he’s into you, too.”

Derek - Derek turns away. What the hell is happening? He doesn’t really want to talk about this with anyone, but he especially doesn’t want to talk about this with _Scott_. He doesn’t really want to talk about it with Kira, either.

“Oh, c’mon,” Scott complains when Derek doesn’t respond, “It’s fine, we’re all supportive. Just the, uh.”

“UST is getting pretty bad?”

Kira says it like a question, and it’s probably a testament to the fact that Derek spends nearly all his time with people five years younger than him that he instantly recognizes what UST stands for, doesn’t even have to _think_ about it. More importantly, now he _really really_ doesn’t want to be part of this conversation.

“And, also, y’know, we want you both to be happy. And it’s become relatively obvious to the rest of us that you’ll probably be happy together?”

That doesn’t make _sense_ to Derek, because Stiles acts the same way with him that he acts with like _everyone_. Sure, he’s tactile, but he also regularly touches everyone in the pack. It’s nothing special with Derek. And sure, he flirts sometimes, but he does that with literally everybody. He does that with the waitress at their favourite burger place downtown just as often as he does with Derek, and she’s in her sixties and has a clear take-no-shit attitude.

There’s no way Stiles actually likes him beyond a friend and packmate, because Derek would be able to pick up on it. He’s naturally observant, and beyond that, he’s a freaking _werewolf_.

He grunts in response. It’s a disbelieving grunt.

“He is,” Kira agrees, “Just. Ask him out? He’ll say yes, I promise.”

“I know him better than anyone,” Scott says, “He’ll say yes. Just _ask_ him.”

Derek still doesn’t turn around, and he can feel Scott and Kira exasperated. They drop it after a few moments of silence, turning the conversation to dinner, and Lydia and Jackson show up just a few minutes later.

There’s no way, Derek thinks as he turns on the stove, absolutely no way. He’d _know_ if Stiles were into him.

They’ve given him hope, anyway, and Derek knows all too well that only leads to bad things.

*

Stiles is helping Derek do dishes after dinner, some of the pack skipping out immediately after while Kira, Scott, Erica, Boyd, Cora, and Malia are out in the living room, bickering over what movie to watch. It’s a pretty normal pack night, so why, Derek ponders, is Stiles’ heartbeat so fast, and what’s up with the obvious shaking.

“You okay?” he asks quietly, taking the plate from Stiles to rinse and dry. Stiles startles, mind elsewhere, and looks up at Derek. His expression is vulnerable, and Derek pauses, looking at him carefully.

“Stiles? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Stiles sighs, picking up another plate and dunking in the water, “Just, Erica said something to me earlier today and it’s distracting me.”

“That bad?” Derek asks when Stiles’ heart picks up a pace. It’s bothering him.

“Not bad,” Stiles sighs, “Just weird. Couldn’t be true.”

“Hmm,” Derek hums, “You wanna talk about it?”

Stiles bites his lip, passing a glass to Derek.

“There’s - you would tell me, if you were into me, right?”

A light flush creeps over Stiles’ face, and Derek nearly drops the drinking glass. He sets it down before he looks back over at Stiles, who’s watching his bashfully.

“What?”

Stiles sighs again, averts his gaze, and Derek can _hear_ the shake in his voice now.

“Exactly. She just said something about how. Um, obvious my pining is? And that you were totally into me, too, that you do things for me you wouldn’t think of doing for the rest of the pack, and I. Can’t get it out of my mind, even though I _know_ it’s not true, there’s no way - “

There’s a splash, and a low _thunk_ as the bowl hits the bottom of the sink, because Stiles is suddenly pushed away from the sink and against the counter and Derek’s lips are on his. It’s a moment before Stiles’ brain catches up, and his wet, sudsy hands are on Derek’s biceps as he pushes into the kiss. It’s a moment before they break apart, and both of them are looking at each other with wide eyes.

“You - what?” Stiles is the first to speak, hands still grasped onto Derek’s arms and Derek’s arms are around his waist.

“Very into you,” Derek responds, clearly out of breath, and Stiles’ heartbeat _rockets_ as a smile splits his face.

“Fucking told you!” both Scott and Erica call from the living room, and Derek and Stiles startle.

“Right,” Stiles says, “Right, uh.”

Derek’s done with that, though - they can talk later, when they’re actually alone. He just leans in, kissing Stiles again, softly and slowly.

The smile on Stiles’ face is everything.

**Author's Note:**

> *sheds some tears for the end of this challenge*
> 
> find me at [asocialfoxpaw](http://asocialfoxpaw.tumblr.com)
> 
> don't post my stuff on goodreads or like sites please!
> 
> there's deffo a NYE one-shot coming out tmrw, and maybe if I'm lucky the next part to eveyone's at it?


End file.
